Linux Kernel up to 6.12.42/6.15.10/6.16.1 dm_accept_partial_bio deadlock

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.42/6.15.10/6.16.1. The affected element is the function dm_accept_partial_bio. This manipulation causes deadlock. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2025-39792. There is not any exploit available. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.42/6.15.10/6.16.1. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function dm_accept_partial_bio. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a deadlock vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-833. The product contains multiple threads or executable segments that are waiting for each other to release a necessary lock, resulting in deadlock. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dm: Always split write BIOs to zoned device limits Any zoned DM target that requires zone append emulation will use the block layer zone write plugging. In such case, DM target drivers must not split BIOs using dm_accept_partial_bio() as doing so can potentially lead to deadlocks with queue freeze operations. Regular write operations used to emulate zone append operations also cannot be split by the target driver as that would result in an invalid writen sector value return using the BIO sector. In order for zoned DM target drivers to avoid such incorrect BIO splitting, we must ensure that large BIOs are split before being passed to the map() function of the target, thus guaranteeing that the limits for the mapped device are not exceeded. dm-crypt and dm-flakey are the only target drivers supporting zoned devices and using dm_accept_partial_bio(). In the case of dm-crypt, this function is used to split BIOs to the internal max_write_size limit (which will be suppressed in a different patch). However, since crypt_alloc_buffer() uses a bioset allowing only up to BIO_MAX_VECS (256) vectors in a BIO. The dm-crypt device max_segments limit, which is not set and so default to BLK_MAX_SEGMENTS (128), must thus be respected and write BIOs split accordingly. In the case of dm-flakey, since zone append emulation is not required, the block layer zone write plugging is not used and no splitting of BIOs required. Modify the function dm_zone_bio_needs_split() to use the block layer helper function bio_needs_zone_write_plugging() to force a call to bio_split_to_limits() in dm_split_and_process_bio(). This allows DM target drivers to avoid using dm_accept_partial_bio() for write operations on zoned DM devices.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2025-39792 since 04/16/2025. The exploitation appears to be difficult. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 265252 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-39792), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.12.43, 6.15.11, 6.16.2 or 6.17-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying a patch is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (265252) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2051). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6
• 6.12.7
• 6.12.8
• 6.12.9
• 6.12.10
• 6.12.11
• 6.12.12
• 6.12.13
• 6.12.14
• 6.12.15
• 6.12.16
• 6.12.17
• 6.12.18
• 6.12.19
• 6.12.20
• 6.12.21
• 6.12.22
• 6.12.23
• 6.12.24
• 6.12.25
• 6.12.26
• 6.12.27
• 6.12.28
• 6.12.29
• 6.12.30
• 6.12.31
• 6.12.32
• 6.12.33
• 6.12.34
• 6.12.35
• 6.12.36
• 6.12.37
• 6.12.38
• 6.12.39
• 6.12.40
• 6.12.41
• 6.12.42
• 6.15.0
• 6.15.1
• 6.15.2
• 6.15.3
• 6.15.4
• 6.15.5
• 6.15.6
• 6.15.7
• 6.15.8
• 6.15.9
• 6.15.10
• 6.16.0
• 6.16.1

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Discussion